Life is Short

“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12, NAS.

The brevity of life is a lesson that most 15-year-olds don’t have to contend with, but Alec* learned quickly after finding himself in the middle of a major earthquake zone during a survey trip with his father, Caleb, on the island of Nias, Indonesia. The morning of the quake Alec had enjoyed breakfast at a local pastor’s house. The pastor’s niece, who was about Alec’s age, had helped serve the meal. Later that day the same girl died in the collapse of her family home.

Jessie, who had remained at home while her husband, Caleb, and son, Alec, visited Nias, kept in contact with them as best she could following news of the earthquake. While Caleb and Alec worked in the disaster zone doing whatever they could to bring relief, she sent daily emails to the family prayer network in the U.S. Several responses a day asked the same question, “When are you going to pull Alec out?”

With a protective mother’s heart, Jessie wanted to pull her son out, but God kept reminding her, “Jessie, you and Caleb have asked me to work in his life, and you want to pull him out now?”

“No, Lord,” was Jessie’s response. “You know what’s best for Alec, I leave him with You.”

After the experiences of staying with his dad and serving the people of Nias after the earthquake, Alec told his dad, “You know I never realized how short life is; it seems to me that it’s too short to miss being right with the Lord.”

*Names changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

Alec will never forget that life is too short to miss being right with the Lord.

Pacific Rim parents will trust the Lord with their children.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.